


Reckless Storms

by CosmoTheEgg



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Chaptered, Developing Relationship, Dragons, F/M, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, I Don't Even Know, Magic, Post-Season/Series 02, Romance, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-28 04:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20419748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmoTheEgg/pseuds/CosmoTheEgg
Summary: Rayla and Callum have just arrived in Xadia, a wondrous land filled with primal magic and all sorts of unique creatures.But of course, there will be many conflicts among the way. Dangers ranging from human-hating elves to the largest of dragons will cross paths with the pair, but as long as they stick together, there's nothing that won't stop them.Unless Rayla's complicated feelings gets in the way of their close friendship.As Callum deepens his interest for primal magic and begins to learn all sorts of spells, Rayla's feelings for him start to get stronger as each passing day goes by.She's beginning to act quite recklessly.





	1. Chapter 1

Dragons.

They were the most frightening beings that a human could conjure of. Their immense sizes and countless abilities made the humans seem inferior to the great beasts. 

Callum, not surprisingly, had never wished to view one up close. After all, he was only a measly human that could be easily burnt to a crisp. He silently shuddered at the thought of a fiery death. 

But Azymondias, the son of Avizandium, had changed all of that. When the small, sky-blue dragonet crawled out of his egg, everything Callum perceived about both dragons and Xadia had transformed. 

As Callum had watched his younger brother play with the dragonling, he concluded that dragons weren't hostile vicious creatures. They could be loyal and remarkably friendly.

However, not all dragons were like Zym. 

Sol Regem, for instance, was one of the more diabolical dragons Callum had heard about in mere legends. 

The solar archdragon had threatened to destroy thousands of innocent lives just because one dark mage, similar to Lord Viren, made a grave mistake that started the whole war. 

And now, Callum was face to face with that same dragon. Sol Regem, the destroyer of human kingdoms, was gazing down on him with an expression of disgust painted along his scaly, scarred face. The human ducked his head ashamedly, fearful to lift his gaze towards the giant dragon. 

"What's this? A human trying to cross the border of Xadia?" Sol Regem rumbled in a low growl, slithering down from his perch towards the pair. "How dare a Lesser Being step upon this land!" 

Callum trembled, his face paling to a sickly white as the dragon approached him. Everything about him was terrifying. His enormous, pink scar down to his knife-like talons made the prince's stomach drop. There was nothing remotely welcoming about the dragon's entire figure. 

Callum internally decided he was probably going to end up in flames by the end of the day. Hell, he even considered being alive at the very moment was quite fortunate, considering Sol Regem could've slaughtered him in a short heartbeat if he felt especially cruel that day. The prince squeezed his forest-green eyes shut and quietly awaited his death.

Thankfully, fate decided that he should live yet another day, because Rayla protectively stepped in front of him, her hands wrapped around her blades. "He's with me. There's no need to hurt him," she responded in a soft voice, her head dipped slightly to show respect to the massive dragon. 

Callum flicked his eyes back open, anticipating Sol Regem's response. 

Sol Regem fell into a deep silence for a couple of moments, his golden scales shimmering in the light of the morning sun. "Why would you guide this vermin into Xadia," he finally growled, a suspicious light to unusual blue eyes. 

"We have precious cargo to deliver," Rayla stated unwaveringly, straightening up her body to portray she wasn't afraid. 

Callum honestly admired how Rayla could keep her voice so steady. Before he could make another mental note of her bravery, his attention was directed back to the archdragon oddly snuffling. 

Sol Regem flared his nostrils, aggressively inhaling the scent of the air around. He flicked his spiked tail and snarled, "I smell dragon." 

Zym stumbled out from behind Callum, sneezing from the particles of dust floating about. Once the dragonet noticed Sol Regem, he clumsily halted and cocked his head to the side. Sol Regem's eyes widened with shock as he surveyed the blue dragon carefully, a sinister light gleaming in his cold, blue orbs. 

"Impossible," the sun king hissed softly between gritted teeth, his snake-like neck snapping to the side. "Give him to me." 

"We can't," Rayla shot back, moving herself to block Sol Regem's view of the dragonet. "A human has to deliver the dragonling to the Dragon Queen. This simple action could stop the entire war!" 

Sol Regem flexed his claws and lifted his chin higher, as if he wasn't intimidating enough. He bared his stained teeth as he sneered, "The humans deserve this war. Their magic started this bloodshed, and because of Ziard's decision to continue the use of his atrocious practice, his entire race will pay for his foolish actions. Now hand over the dragon!" 

Callum quivered and backed up slightly at the sound of Sol Regem's anger. He anxiously looked over to Rayla, waiting for her next move. Rayla glanced back at him, worry lacing her lavender eyes. The prince noted that Rayla's troubled look was not a good sign. 

"I apologize sincerely, but we just can't give him to you. The prince himself has to return Azymondias to the Queen," Rayla objected hesitantly, attempting to raise her voice slightly. 

Sol Regem shifted his ragged wings, a taunt to his powerful voice as he replied, "Very well. We shall do this the difficult way."

Callum then noticed a hint of smoke rising from Sol Regem's long, yellow muzzle. His mouth dried up out of fear as the dragon's throat began to glow a bright orange color ; to put it in simple terms, the sun king was furious with the elf's unwillingness to hand Zym over. 

"Uh, Rayla, I think he's mad," Callum whispered, a cold sense of dread flooding his feelings.

The moonshadow swiveled around hastily, scooped up the dragonet, and tugged Callum by his sleeve. "Ya think?! Run!" 

A deafening roar, which shook Callum to the very core, escaped Sol Regem's jaws. Loose, reasonably-sized rocks stumbled from the edges of the canyon as the ground rattled under the dragon’s intense roar. The human prince gaped at the horrid sound, barely able to depart his feet from the trembling ground.

Sol Regem spread his wings and lunged at the pair, his razor sharp teeth dripping with drool. The dragon had a crazed appearance to his eyes, comparably to a rabid Banther. For a couple of moments, Callum just stared at the sun king thrashing around the canyon towards him. 

But alas, if he wished to survive, he had to begin the sprint for his life. Callum whirled around and dashed towards Rayla’s running form, feeling Sol Regem’s hot breath on his heels.

Callum had only been in Xadia for roughly ten minutes before everything took a wild turn.

Already, he had fallen prey to a massive, fire-breathing archdragon.

This adventure was not going to be pleasant.


	2. Chapter 2

Being chased by an angry archdragon was an activity Rayla swore to never do again. 

She was an assassin for Garlack's sake! Assassins weren't supposed to be the ones running from their deaths. 

Well, she used to be an assassin. An assassin who never murdered anyone, in fact, which probably was a good thing. 

But now, Rayla didn't quite have a purpose in her life. She'd be training to be an assassin for her entire life only to back down when she gave herself the task of killing the human princes. 

Again, that was also a good thing. She was glad she hadn't killed Ezran and Callum, because now they were her closest friends. 

Sweet heavens, Runaan would be so disappointed in her for getting all smitten with the princes, especially Callum.

Rayla shook the thought forcefully out of her mind and darted into a cave, shoving Callum into the dark space first. She pressed herself against the stony wall, gasping for breath as she tried to listen to Sol Regem's lumbering footsteps. 

For a moment, the clanking sound of his claws approached the small cave. The dragon's massive figure halted as he peered into the abyss of the cave, his blue eyes glinting. Sol Regem grunted in an irritated tone and padded away, the sounds of his steps fading as he walked further. 

Callum squirmed around awkwardly, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "Is it safe yet?" he murmured softly, squinting in the darkness. 

Rayla shushed him by placing a finger on his lips, her brow furrowing in deep concentration."Shut up. I don't know if he's gone yet," Rayla hissed back in response. 

With what little light there was, Rayla could see that Callum scowled impatiently as he gathered Zym in his trembling arms. His brunette hair was ruffled from the scrimmage with Sol Regem ten minutes earlier. It wasn't a bad look for the prince, Rayla concluded. 

Callum gave her an unusual expression as she gazed at him. "Why are you staring at me? Did something happen to my face?"

Rayla snapped out of her trance, giving him a lopsided grin. "Yer hair's all messed up," she snorted.

Callum returned her glance with an unamused stare. "Well yeah, I basically almost died toda-" 

The prince was interrupted by the sound of the sun king's loud, advancing tread. Rayla backed up into the cave even further, dragging a terrified Callum along with her.

Once again, Sol Regem paced around the entry of the cave for what seemed like hours, struggling to catch a whiff of their mingled scents buried in the dank cave. But eventually, the dragon gave up completely and trudged back to his ledge to keep a watchful eye over the border. 

Rayla let out a long sigh of relief, just realizing she was holding her breath for the majority of the time. "Thank the heavens, he's finally gone," she breathed out, sweat beaded on her forehead. 

As if nothing happened at all, Zym wriggled out of Callum's grip excitedly and yapped, his sounds echoing throughout the cave. The dragonet plopped himself onto his haunches and looked back and forth from Callum to Rayla, a cheeky grin forming upon his adorable face. 

The elf cracked a tiny smile. Ah, to be a wee babe again sounded wonderful. All a small child had to worry about was the crisis of bedtime. 

Clearly, she did not have the luxury of a child's peaceful life. She was just shy of turning sixteen and she had all sorts of issues to fuss over.

For instance, she had to keep an eye on a stupid human for days on end. If she hadn't been watching over Callum all this time, he probably would have eaten something weird and died as a result. 

Though he was a big dumb human with no sense of survival instinct, he was her big dumb human. Rayla would have never traded him in return for an easy life. 

"Where are we off to?" Callum questioned curiously, an excited tone to his voice.

"Falleck." 

"What's that?" 

Rayla hesitated. "Mah home village. We need to grab some supplies and we'll be off on our way faster than you can say 'moonberry'."

The prince arched his eyebrows in surprise, tilting his head to the side. "I didn't know you lived near the border." 

Rayla shrugged, pushing the not-so-great memories of Falleck behind her. "Never really thought 'bout it. Now c'mon closer to the light so we can work on yer perfectly accurate elf disguise."

The pair crouched down right beside the entryway of the cave, more light beginning to pour in as the sun rose. 

"Hand me the bag," Rayla requested. 

Callum slid the straps off his shoulders and clumsily tossed the bag onto Rayla's lap. The elf flipped open the top flap and searched through the items, humming an elven rhyme as she scoured about through the sack. 

"Aha!" she exclaimed, whipping out her iconic moonberry juice. "Get ready for some face paintin'!" 

Callum wore a distressed expression as she dipped her fingers in the juice. "This isn't sanitary," he complained lightly, wrinkling his nose. 

"Since when have we cared about things being sanitary? I haven't taken a bath in two weeks," Rayla laughed humorously, amused at his uncomfortable appearance. "Besides, you need to break yer princely habits. Yer in Xadia for cryin' out loud!" 

Callum sniffed disdainfully. "Fine, fine."

"It's pronounced _'fayne'_, sad prince." 

"Right.. _'fayne'_," he repeated oddly, putting emphasis on the accented word. 

"Ya dork. Now stay very still so I can draw on you." 

Rayla lifted her stained fingers, tracing two large, thin triangles under his baggy eyes. She then proceeded to dab some of the nectar into a crescent shape on his forehead. Her bright eyes drifted across his new persona ; though it resembled nothing of an elf, Rayla felt awfully satisfied with her work. 

"Erm, how do I look?" Callum inquired, dabbles of juice dripping down the sides of his face.

"Yer not gonna fool anyone unless they were blind," Rayla admitted sheepishly, "but at least it's colorful! As long as ye wear the cloak, everything will be fine." 

Callum grasped the cloak from his bag and wrapped it around his body, pulling the hood tightly above his hornless head. 

"_Perfect._ Now do yer best elf accent," Rayla demanded with a smug smirk, leaning on the cave wall.

"Pardon?"

"Ye heard me. Do it." 

The prince heaved himself onto his legs, inhaling sharply. "G'day fellow moonshadow maties! I can, uh, do backflips and yell at everyone when I get angry," he dramatically started, imitating Rayla's accent horribly, "we elves also hate those bloody humans! Toodle-oo!" 

Rayla gaped at him, considering whacking him out cold with the butt of her blade. "Oh _gods_, Callum, you're hopeless." 

"It's not like your human accent was any better!" he retorted defensively. 

"When have I ever said _toodle-oo_?" Rayla snickered, struggling to keep her composure. "It's like you've never heard me talk!"

"It sounded elven?" 

Rayla stood up, shaking her head and chuckling. "We're going to need a _lot_ of work."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter hidden in the depths of my phone for a while and decided to post it today rather than tomorrow. Chapters won't come out every day, but I'll try my best to update Reckless Storms at least once every week or two weeks. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who gave me kudos and read my first chapter, I never expected anyone to read it! 
> 
> \- Cosmo


	3. Chapter 3

"King Ezran, we're approaching the castle of Katolis."

Ezran swiveled around at the sound of Corvus calling his name, frowning slightly at his new title. He would never get used to being called a _king._

Being king meant growing up. 

And changes you didn't expect.

It also meant his dad was dead. 

The boy felt another pang of sadness sweep throughout his body. But there was no time to grieve, Ezran had a thousand-year-old war to fret about now. 

Ezran wished Callum and Rayla were there with him. Their surprisingly wise words influenced much of what he did and said. To put it in simpler terms, he longed to speak to them again. 

But not as much as he yearned to converse with his father one last time. There were thousands of words he wanted tell him, yet there was no time. 

There was always too little time. 

Harrow's abrupt death had been set ever since he engaged in combat with the Xadians. Oh, how Ezran wished he was there to plead with his father to make peace with the elves. 

Perhaps he would've lived a longer life. 

Perhaps he would've been there for both him and Callum. 

If Harrow had just seen how kind and caring Rayla was, maybe he would have worked harder to end the war. 

Ezran's sky-blue eyes were glued to the ground as he continued trekking. There was no point in sulking about what could've happened. 

Ezran was king now, whether he liked it or not. 

People would take him seriously.

He could finally make a difference and change history for the better. 

Ezran lifted his head as he held Bait closely to his chest. "I can see the castle," he told Corvus softly, his legs trembling from the effort of the walk.

Corvus gave Ezran a curt nod, then glanced down at the king's tired figure. "I can carry you to the gate, if that's alright," he suggested, extending a hand to the child. 

"Thank you Corvus, but I can make it," Ezran replied politely, a determined tone edging his voice. 

Though Ezran felt exhausted, he needed to display to the soldier he was worthy of the title of king. 

There were much more difficult things that were going to cross paths with the king, so he felt the need to show Corvus he had enough determination to pass all future troubles. Ezran was going to be a strong king just like his father, he tenaciously decided. 

The two padded in silence until they reached the familiar castle. Once the muscular guards stationed in front of the doorway recognized the pair, they both bowed deeply and simultaneously. 

"My king," the one on the right started, his nose dipped towards the ground, "I see you have returned to take the throne, but where is your step-brother?" 

Ezran bit his lip anxiously, envisioning the public outcry from the people as he would explain why his brother was traveling with a Moonshadow elf. "I'll explain my absence once I get settled in." 

The guard gave Ezran a short nod, regained his posture and gave a gesture to open the gates. The large, wooden doors creaked with effort as the soldiers heaved it open, their arms quivering as they pushed. 

Ezran murmured his gratitude to the soldiers and scuttled through the entry, Corvus trailing right behind him. The courtyard was packed with all sorts of citizens, who were quietly chatting and trading with each other at their posts. 

A relieved sigh escaped Ezran’s lips as he relaxed his strained muscles. His buzzing mind eased as the people took no notice of him. He then handed his froggy friend to Corvus, watching the mass of people cautiously. 

But of course, a person just had to cry out, ““The king has returned!” 

The crowd twisted around all at once to stare at the child, shocked gasps coming from every corner of the yard. The boy's ears burned with embarrassment as the soft murmurs began rippling throughout the group. 

"He's only eleven, far too young to lead Katolis," a man muttered to his female companion, a touch of aggression lacing his gruff voice, "he's going to cost us the war."

"Hush Ascot, the poor child doesn't have any parents left," the woman hissed back, keeping her voice low as she glanced at Ezran multiple times. 

Ezran kept his chin up high, tears threatening to spill over his freckled cheeks.

He refused to cry in front of the Katolians. As Harrow once told him before, a king must show strength in the presence of their people, even when all seems lost. 

Everything seemed lost at the moment. 

All of a sudden, a middle-aged woman with a cloth over her head dashed up to Ezran, a wild panic gleaming in her gray eyes. "King Ezran!" she exclaimed, her chest heaving,"You’re safe! I feared Viren had brought harm to you." 

"Opeli?" Ezran gasped in recognition, furrowing his brow at Viren's name, "Viren was my father's closest friend. He'd never hurt me!" 

Opeli's gaze darkened. "He'd gone rogue, so we were forced to throw him off the High Council." 

"Is he in the dungeon?" 

She pursed her lips and attempted to lower the volume of her voice. "He's gone." 

Ezran stood in silence for a moment as the crowd burst out in more loud whispers. "What do you mean he’s _gone_?"

"We went in to do a daily check on him and he simply vanished. King Ezran, his vengeance is so great, he may end up hurting you." 

Ezran's heart dropped, his vision blurring.

“What about my brother?” he mumbled fearfully. 

Opeli widened her eyes. “He’s not with you?” 

Ezran shook his head, his heart pounding. 

“May the gods be with him,” the advisor exhaled, closing her eyes. 

Callum and Rayla.. were they going to be alright? 

Suddenly, he wished he had never returned to Katolis only to take this huge burden. 

The only reason that kept him from dashing away was the memory of his deceased father.

Ezran would not fail King Harrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh lawd, this took longer than I expected it to. Ezran was surprisingly hard to write and even then I'm not 100% sure if I did it correctly. 
> 
> Lots and lots of Ezran angst here, but I'll bring in some more fluff next week!
> 
> Anyway, I finally decided my posting schedule. I'll be posting on the weekends (Saturdays/Sundays) and I'll try my best to post maybe once on a weekday. 
> 
> Thank you! 
> 
> \- Cosmo

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, fellow Rayllum and Dragon Prince stans! I recently got my Ao3 account and I've been planning to write "Reckless Storms" for the longest time, and I'm proud to say I have finally posted this first chapter! 
> 
> Whoever happens to stumble upon this work, I sincerely hope you enjoy my work. Thank you for taking the time to read this! 
> 
> Rated Teen for minor language, mentions of death, and some violence. 
> 
> \- Cosmo


End file.
